A Life within Death - a tale of Nico Di Angelo
by Nadenshka
Summary: Nico's feeling down after the successful quest, this story shows how he regains happiness. (This is my first fanfic ever! Honest reviews for my improvement please C:)
1. Chapter 1

There were two visible lights within the forest; one more vibrant than the other. The less vibrant light was a small campfire, which sat outside the safe border of Camp Half-Blood. A boy was sitting on a log silently, peering into the flames. A cheering in the distance made the boy look up from his D'Angelo sat alone at his makeshift campfire celebrating the success in his own way, by nursing the remains of his brokenspirit. At the bonfire, the real party was happening. Happiness was overwhelming, even reaching out to Nico's darker corner of the forest. He wondered if anyone actually cared that he wasn't there, even though the seven wouldn't have been successful without him. Laughing aloud, he said 'probably not' to himself.

Quickly sobering, he realised why he was away from the festivities. Sure, he was glad they had won the war and all, but he was still lonely as hell... Ironic, considering he was a Son of Hades. Nico felt like it was his destiny to be alone, to be an outcast forever. Staring into the flickering glow of his pathetic excuse of a bonfire, he wondered if he could ever be close to someone, to have a true friend who fully understood him. Would he ever change back to his ignorant, yet happy self?

Far away from Nico's lonely corner, a youthful goddess watched him from her hearth in her quiet corner of Olympus. She yearned to comfort the dejected soul, because she knew him better than most; she had seen the kindness and compassion he hid from others. What she did next shocked her, she never acted without thinking. Hestia called upon the power of her hearth to transport her to Nico's pathetic excuse of a bonfire. Keeping him company was the best she could do as an apparently useless goddess. She appeared silently behind him, unsure of when to alert him to her presence. 'Snap!' Oops. Too late, a twig snapped beneath her feet. Luckily it didn't seem to frighten Nico. 'Come here to force me to join in, have you? Good luck, I don't care about parties,' he said sardonically to the mysterious party goer who had finally found him. He didn't know who it was, and didn't care either. If only people would just leave him to his solitude, he was happiest in the shadows outside the border. No one would judge him there, or treat him different because of his father. Gods, he hated his father at times. Why couldn't he be a normal son of Hermes, even being a son of Ares would have been better than a son of Hades. Nico would actually fit in at Camp Half-Blood, if it weren't for his father.

'You're not even going to tell me you missed me?' Hestia said with a fake pout. 'How rude, whatever happened to the kind gentleman I once knew?' Nico whirled around, surprise clear on his face. 'Hestia? What on Olympus are you doing here?' 'Well, you looked like you could use the company' she replied, smiling, without trying to offend him. She remembered him being just a bit touchy at times. Nico half smiled, he knew she meant well, but he wasn't too sure about the whole 'company' thing. He had spent months avoiding the people he was in the same ship as, all he wanted right now was to be truly alone. 'Hmm, OK, if you insist' Nico said. 'I guess some good company would be nice'

Hestia blushed slightly with the compliment, and sat next to him on his rotten log. 'Comfy seating you've got here' she joked, hoping he hadn't lost his sense of humour. 'All the best for milady,' he replied in jest. And with that comment, all of the ice built up between them melted. Both of them smiled at each other, remembering the other times they sat at the hearth together. Hestia's good mood helped turn the pathetic bonfire into a real one.

Time flew past for the goddess and the demigod, they talked the hours away, not realising the dangers of letting their guards down outside of the safe border. Without their knowledge, many small, yet dangerous monsters had seen the enlarged bonfire in the area they could roam in, and had gone to investigate.

'You know, once you get past all of the doom and gloom, you're a really decent guy, Nico' she looked up at him through her fiery fringe. 'And once you get past the fire hazards involved with hanging around you, you're a really nice person to chill out with,' he replied with a sheepish smile, not sure what to do from here. Just as his arm was starting to go around her petite waist, their unknown guests made their timely appearance.

'Get back Hestia! Their size is deceiving!' Nico shouted protectively. Why in Hades did he have to bring his pity party out of the borders again? Oh yeah, no one at Camp Half-Blood liked him.


	2. Chapter 2

This was just what he wanted. The one time he felt safe with another person, sorry, goddess, something bad happened. That was just great. Were the gods cursing him for feeling happiness for once in his miserable life?

Right, back to the life-threatening thing happening outside his mind. Without realising it, Nico had stepped in front of Hestia with his arms out, as if he were protecting a mortal girl. He drew his Stygian ice sword, looking around for the threat. He hadn't had time to think that Hestia was far from fragile. She called upon her goddess powers to defend them both. Once a pathetic bonfire, the flames roared with Hestia's anger at the interruption. Glinting eyes were visible at the edge of the light's reaches, the monsters had finally announced their presence. Hoping her show of power would drive the monsters back, the fire only drew more attention to them. Several venomous pit scorpions began to circle menacingly around them, barely avoiding the flames.

'Quick Hestia, you have to get out of here!' Nico whispered frantically at her.

He had already lost Bianca, he couldn't lose anyone else he cared about.

'No, we can work together, I'm not powerless, you know.' She replied with a hint of annoyance.

Wielding the flames, she focused on one scorpion that was closer than the rest. A loud, female war cry was heard as she threw all of her rage into attacking the scorpion.

She hadn't anticipated that the other scorpions would attack at lightening speed, putting Nico in grave danger. He swung his dark sword back and forth, hoping that the fall of two monsters would stop the others from attacking. Hestia stepped away from Nico, drawing the monsters to attack her instead.

'No!' Nico cried. This wasn't happening! Just as the three remaining pit scorpions leaped to sting Hestia, Nico leaped in front of her, and bore the three stings to his arm he tried to protect himself with.

Smiling as much as scorpions can, they backed away into the darkness, leaving Hestia in tears over Nico's limp body. Hestia heard a faint moan:

'Uhhhhhh, don't feel so good.'

She had to act quick if she wanted to save him. Lifting him over her shoulder like a tantrum-throwing toddler, she ran towards the bigger campfire, praying to herself and her siblings that he would live.

Not quickly enough, she reached the safe border of Camp Half-Blood, and screamed for help.

At the party, the Greeks and Romans were dancing and laughing together. Any other day, Hestia would have been ecstatic that the two sides were finally getting along, but today she needed them to be quiet and save a life. She sprinted as fast as one could holding a lanky teenage boy. When she got to the middle of the party, she yelled to everyone, using the campfire to gain their attention. The life of the party was extinguished, it took on a sober tone as everyone saw the limp form she was carrying. A faint trotting was heard, as Chiron entered the scene.

'Whatever happened here Hestia?' Chiron asked her. Gasps went around as people realised she was the Big Three's sister, older than most of the Olympians.

'Pit scorpions, I can't stay down here for long, I have to return to Olympus. Save him, I beg you,' she pleaded with all her heart. Stepping away from the gathered crowd, she walked straight into their bonfire, and disappeared from view.

A cough brought everyone's attention back to the dire situation. Everyone rushed to attend to Nico, who's rough breaths may be his last. Chiron galloped into the Big House, gathering the right supplies to heal Nico.

During all of the commotion, Nico was talking with his 'beloved' father.

'Funny that, my caring father decides to see me when I'm dying.' Nico tended to be pretty sardonic at the worst times.

'I know you would love to be reborn and escape your life, or even spend eternity in Elysium, but you're not going to die.' Hades said solemnly to his only son. 'I know I haven't been an amazing father, but I do care, even though I haven't shown it, at all. Hestia is my favorite sibling, and she was distraught when she told me what happened. I'm helping you now because I care about both of you.'

Just as Nico was going to offload 16 years of rejection onto his father, he woke up. He was fully healed, but disappointed. Worried faces came into focus around him. He wished Hestia was one of them, but she was nowhere to be seen. Getting up slowly, he pushed past the crowd, and shut himself in his cabin alone. Lighting the fireplace, he lay down and prayed that Hestia would come back.


	3. Chapter 3

Far away in Olympus, Hestia breathed a sigh of relief. Thank the gods he was OK. She had never felt so strongly about a mortal before. Worrying about their potential future, she had learned from her relatives' mistakes, all of the death and sadness that comes with having feelings for a mortal. Feeling like an airhead, she wondered if he felt the same way. Before they were rudely interrupted with Nico's near-death experience, she thought she saw his arm twitch, as if he was going to put his arm around her. Hestia sighed with wistfulness. That would have been great if he manned up enough to do it. Yeah, she really was turning into an airhead. For a several thousand year old goddess, these feelings were foreign to her.

After a recovering night's sleep, Nico lay on his bed in the lonely cabin of Hades, which sat in the darkest corner of Camp Half-Blood. He had an inner conflict about his newfound feelings for Hestia, and his old crush on Percy. She was a goddess, she had no time for a pathetic, outcast half blood like him, neither did a hero like Percy. Plus, he was all happy with Annabeth. Nico was convinced he could move on. But Hestia did travel all of the way from Olympus just to keep him company. Did she really mean that he was all 'doom and gloom'? Argh, he had no idea about relationships. If only Chiron taught the confusing subject of 'How to Show Interest in a Person Without Half Dying or Looking Like an Idiot.' Then again, if he did, Nico would instantly fail that lesson.

'How am I supposed to contact her to at least try to talk with her? It's not like we can exchange cellphone numbers.' Nico vented his thoughts aloud.

'Contact who?' Said a satyr from the gap in his now-ajar door.

Nico jumped a foot off his bed. 'How in Hades did you get in, Grover?' He asked with a tinge of frustration. The son of Hades certainly didn't appreciate random people barging in unannounced.

'Dude, chill. I knocked on your door, like, 5 times! I was getting a bit worried, sooo, I kinda opened the door cos it was unlocked.' Grover the satyr made himself at home in Nico's cabin quickly. 'So... Who's this "her" you were talking about, eh?' He nudged Nico in the ribs, wanting the details like a gossiping teenage girl. 'You gotta spill all of the deets, man'

Nico sighed, half with mock exasperation, half with real sadness that he couldn't get in touch with Hestia. 'OK, fine, I'll tell you who it is.' Nico submitted after seeing Grover's hopeful eyes. 'You know that awesome goddess who was carrying me?'

Grover's eyes went wide. 'Nooooo way man, that's totally awesome! Need some real advice?' He said that with another nudge to Nico's ribs.

'Actually, I'd like that. So far the whole flirting thing hasn't been going too well. I suppose half dying in front of her didn't earn me any brownie points.' Nico ignored the suggestive nudges Grover was giving him.

'Don't worry, man. You're in good hands here!' Grover was getting too excited about this.

Nico gave another exasperated sigh, hoping that Grover's help would work with Hestia.

After hours of confidence boosters and tips on how to be a gentleman, Nico left his cabin for dinner. Grover was tagging along, telling him all about how guys should make the first move.

A lightbulb appeared. 'Why don't I offer some food to her through the nightly sacrificial fire? I'm sure father dearest wouldn't mind getting less than usual.' It was brilliant, genius, and it had to work. Holding a soft piece of cake above the flames, he wondered what on Olympus to say to her.

'Hestia, if you're listening, I think you're great to hang out with, and I'd love to catch up sometime, if you decide to come down from Olympus.' He muttered half to himself, half to her, praying that she would get his godly equivalent of a text. Dropping the cake into the fire, he was surprised that the flames seemed to flare larger than usual, and he hoped that was a sign that she had heard.

Way up in Olympus, Hestia sat in her cute cabin deliberating when she could next see Nico, and if he'd want her to visit. Trying not to be too creepy, she looked into her hearth/oracle to see what he was doing. She gasped when she saw him sacrifice food to her, and heard his message loud and clear. He did want to see her! That piece of cake appeared on her dusty, unused shrine. For the first time in hundreds of years, she felt like real goddess. It had been many years since people last acknowledged her as an important goddess. At the same time, she felt like a mortal teenage girl, gushing over a cute present a boy gave to her.

Later that night, after everyone had left the campfire, Nico sat alone, staring at the flickering lights. An impatient tapping of a hoof and a rustling in the nearby bushes alerted Nico to Grover's nosey presence. He glared at the bush, and the rustling stopped, all that could be heard was the occasional crackle from the bonfire, and the sound of hooves walking away.

Hestia saw her chance, and took it. She entered the mortal world, and tried to sneak up on Nico. Her arms trembled as she considered the daunting possibility of surprising him with a hug.

Nico heard a light footstep on the ground. Half smiling to himself, he hoped it was Hestia, but he didn't want to turn around until she got closer to him.

Cursing herself for chickening out, she forced out an awkward 'hey.'

At this stage, Nico was equally nervous, so he looked behind at her, replied with an identically awkward 'hey,' then shuffled to make room on his log in front of the deserted bonfire. Internally face-palming, he asked himself why he didn't stand for her, she was a goddess! And forgetting all of the goddess stuff, he should have done the same for any regular mortal girl! Why didn't he, Nico asked himself while Hestia timidly sat on the log. Because he was scared and nervous, an inner voice answered for him.


End file.
